


Candles

by champagne_enema



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, FUCK, M/M, Oneshot, Short Story, as, bby eren, punk! levi, well this is angsty, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-22
Updated: 2017-02-22
Packaged: 2018-09-26 05:37:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9868031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/champagne_enema/pseuds/champagne_enema
Summary: “When the sun has set, no candle can replace it.”In which Eren is Levi's candle.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this is an angst fest and i wrote it instead of sleeping and i was feeling pretty depressed so i though HEY WHY DONT I WRECK MY BABES TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER and now im just hella tired
> 
> goodnight

“We’re all like candles.” Eren whispered, his eyes staring up at the night sky, the two teal orbs glittering in the light of the moon and the soft streetlight rays.

 

“How so?” Levi questioned, his voice hardly above a whisper, for fear of breaking the velvety silence. His voice was hoarse and gravelly from yelling, deeper than usual. The raven had spent the majority of his day screaming at his uncle for hitting his mother, and being screamed at. He could still feel the bruise on his cheek and hear the scalding words.  _ “Worthless fuckin’ kid!” _

 

He inhaled and focused on Eren. Yes, _Eren_. The younger boy was his lifeline, his reminder that the world could be better. That his life could mean something, if only he could cause one smile to light up that angelic face, or cause those shimmering orbs to crinkle up in laughter.

 

Levi could see how the boy was a candle, but he was curious as to how Eren would respond.

 

Eren didn’t turn to look at Levi, but kept his eyes towards the sky as he said  “When the sun has set, no candle can replace it.”

 

Levi stared, mesmerized by the boys lulling voice as he spoke, yet also bewildered at where the boy was coming from. He felt a smile, though modest, creep up his face.

 

“What’s that from?” he asked, wondering at what the book nerd had come up with this time.

 

He turned and grinned, almost sheepishly, and said “George R.R. Martin said it. I thought it sounded cool.”

 

Levi chuckled, turning forward. “So how exactly are we like candles?” he asked. Eren spoke softly, slowly, as he said “People can’t replace the sun, Levi.” He stared, and willed Levi’s head to turn and meet his eyes.

 

“I can’t be your sun forever.” His voice was so quiet he wasn’t sure he heard it, but Levi knew Eren had spoken.

 

“Yes you can.” he replied, feeling his stubbornness kick in, because  _ goddamn  _ this kid was his sun and his stars. When all the shit he had to deal with came crashing in, drowning him in stress and self-hatred, the thought of bright teal eyes and crooked smiles kept his head up. It kept him from breaking. Eren held him together, as if Levi had been scattered into a million pieces and Eren had stitched him up, and now held the string. The red string of fate. 

 

_“Levi.”_ Eren said his name like it was worth something. Like Levi wasn’t another delinquent kid from the slums, ditching school and smoking behind the bleachers because it made him forget who he was, even if for a few moments. Eren had that effect on people. Levi had seen it before. He’d seen Eren’s words and his kindness and determination touch someone’s heart and make them feel something.

 

Eren cupped Levi’s cheek, his smaller hand cold against his pale skin. “I can’t be your candle. You  _ know  _ that.”

 

And he did. Because after this year, Levi would graduate and leave this shitty town for good, and Eren would be stuck for a whole two more years before he could make it out of the filth and be able to breath without being restrained by the trap that was Shiganshina. Levi knew his mom haunted his every dream, had many a time held the boy in his arms as he cried and told him that even though it had been a year since she'd passed  _ he wasn’t okay _ and he never would be. He would never be the same, because Eren’s mother had died and taken a part of him with her.

 

Levi knew things couldn’t stay like this. He knew he couldn’t rely on this broken boy, because he had to leave and find his own way, but he didn’t want to leave him. He feared that if he left, Eren would be whisked away by someone who was whole and happy, and Eren would forget about the older boy who was so shattered he couldn’t live without a boy two years his junior. Eren would have a happy life, and he deserved that, but part of Levi wanted to cry _ “It’s not fair” _ because Eren had changed him and didn’t deserve to be happy when Levi suffered.

 

Levi enveloped the boy in his arms, feeling himself tremble. “I know.” he whispered into his silky brown hair, and felt a small part of him break as he uttered the words.


End file.
